Opinion

Wole Soyinka Slams U.S. Over ‘Inhuman’ Visa Reinterview

Published

12 months ago

September 11, 2025

Wole Soyinka Visa Reinterview: The Nobel Laureate declines U.S. Consulate’s invite for 9/11 reinterview, calling it strange, inhuman, and symbolic

Wole Soyinka Visa Reinterview invitation from the United States Consulate has sparked a wave of commentary after the Nigerian Nobel Laureate publicly rejected the summons, describing it as bizarre, untimely, and dehumanising.

Also read: US Visa Restrictions Target Officials over Controversial Cuban Medical Mission Program

In an exclusive interview with TheNEWS/PMNEWS on Tuesday, 9 September, Soyinka disclosed he had received a visa reinterview notice scheduled for Thursday, September 11 — a date he found symbolically insensitive, given its global weight.

Initially suspecting a scam, Soyinka said the letter appeared to be part of an “advance fee fraud” scheme.

However, upon confirming its authenticity, he expressed shock and concern. “It was very strange,” he said, reflecting on his longstanding, respectful relationships with U.S. diplomatic officials.

The Wole Soyinka Visa Reinterview refusal is not merely personal.

Soyinka stressed the broader implications of such a process, describing it as potentially humiliating, especially for law-abiding citizens who have built legitimate lives abroad.

“It must be a horrible thing… horrifying, inhuman and dehumanising,” he said.

Beyond the administrative strangeness, Soyinka took issue with the date itself — September 11 — which he sees as a day of mourning and global reflection.

“I’m a bit superstitious. I’m not going anywhere near there on 9/11. No way,” he said, calling on the U.S. to treat the day with more reverence.

Soyinka also questioned the political climate behind such reinterview demands, describing the current American leadership as resembling a “white Idi Amin.”

He voiced concerns over safety and purpose, noting he would not willingly walk into uncertainty “because I don’t know what is waiting for me on the other side of the door.”

The Wole Soyinka Visa Reinterview incident has opened a deeper conversation about the treatment of travellers and migrants, as well as the diplomatic protocols that shape global mobility.

Soyinka suggested that rather than bureaucratic rigidity, what the U.S. may now need is something far more spiritual: “Perhaps what the United States needs right now is an exorcist.”

Though he declined the invitation, Soyinka said the episode was useful in exposing imbalances in international relations and immigration systems.

Also read: US Student Visa Revocations Hit 6,000 in 2025 Crackdown

“People like me are nomadic anyway. But for others, it’s a terrifying prospect,” he concluded.

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Opinion

I wept last night…

Published

3 hours ago

August 27, 2026

Mariam Balogun

By Azuh Arinze,

Yes, I did!

Nobody roughened me up. Nobody also robbed me. But death “did me bad.” It suddenly snatched Dotun Oladipo, managing editor and founder of The Eagle Online, one of the best and leaders in online journalism in our country and a former president of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).

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To know Dotun is to know peace. To have Dotun in your team is also to have victory. Just share your feelings/thoughts/burdens with him and watch him carry them with smiles on his shoulder. And guess what: he won’t rest until victory is won.

I became fairly close to him after I joined GOCOP. And till death came calling on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, in a very, very shocking manner, “he carried my matter on his head.”

He did quite a lot, but I will share just one experience – and this happened at the Zenith Bank branch in Ogba, Lagos about a month ago. I had an issue to resolve inside the bank, and because his office wasn’t too far away, I called him to ask if he could be of assistance.

He explained that he was at home, fairly far away from where I was. I terminated the call. But he called back immediately, asking me to calm down and explain what happened to him. When I finished, he asked me to wait for him at the bank.

Meanwhile he had inadvertently allowed it to slip that he was getting ready for an appointment on the island when my unexpected call altered his program.

Long story short – he made it to the bank ultimately and in a jiffy helped to sort out the issue before heading to his appointment.

As minor as this may seem to some people, it taught me another lesson in selflessness, which Dotun epitomized all through his life.

I saw him last on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja GRA, Lagos. Both of us were there for the second edition of my friend, Olumide Iyanda’s Creative Powerhouse Summit.

As soon as I sighted the workaholic hitting hard on his laptop, tucked in a corner of the hall, to avoid any form of distraction, I went for the exchange of our always-warm pleasantries.

I have been reminiscing on that short memory ever since the unpleasant news of his death reached me.

And even as I cried in my bed last night; and after visiting his home very early today to condole with his wife and children. I will continue to hold on to that memory of him.

Fondly called Emeritus by many of us, especially in GOCOP, Dotun was loved by many. My prayer is that the Lord rests his gentle soul.